Finances & Money • General

And the praise keeps rolling in for Stacie!

A month ago, I reported that Stacie got a positive review from her boss, even though it didn’t help relieve the pressure she’s under at work. She’s still working long hours and still doesn’t get to see all her patients for as much time as she feels they deserve (she’s a clinical dietitian). Part of it is that she just has high standards for herself, which is good for her career and the patients, but bad for her mental (and physical) health.

So I get a voicemail from Stacie yesterday to call her back. She had a little spring in her voice, so I knew it wasn’t the regular “hey, did you leave work yet?” call.

I returned the call and Stacie told me she received the Employee of the Month award at the hospital! This is no small hospital either (it’s over an 800 beds and over 2000 employees)! She thinks this is the first time a dietitian has ever received the award (or at least as long as she has been there).

So will this help her stress levels or increase her pay? No, unfortunately not. She’ll still try to maintain or best her performance, and her yearly raises are not performance-based. That means all the dietitians get the same pay increase (barely better than inflation, if that), regardless of the level of effort they put into their job.

So what are the perks of Employee of the Month? She’s still working on finding out the details from HR, but here’s what she’s heard so far:

• A plaque
• One free PTO day (she currently has 24 days saved up and is maxed out as it is)
• A gift certificate (not sure how much or for where)
• A party

She also heard that past winners also got a month’s free parking in the doctor’s area of the garage, but she’s not sure if they still include that as a prize. I’ll update this post (or write a new one) when we find out all the details.

Congrats Stacie! You deserve it!